When it comes to issuing parking tickets, efficiency matters. With that in mind, four San Fernando Valley cities are joining forces to smooth the way for more effective ticket writing. The Las Virgenes Parking Administration will oversee distribution of revenues from parking tickets issued in Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Hidden Hills and Westlake Village, Calabasas City Clerk Robin Parker said.

A grass-roots group that has been railing against Los Angeles' parking ticket policies has agreed to team up with Mayor Eric Garcetti to look at changes to the enforcement system. Steven Vincent, founder of the Los Angeles Parking Freedom Initiative, said Garcetti invited members of his organization to participate in an official city working group. The panel, Vincent said, will look at an array of possible changes, such as reducing certain fines, expanding parking hours in key locations, making no-parking signs less confusing and halting the practice of using ticket revenue as a tool to balance the city's budget.

An aggressive enforcement policy of towing and ticketing to prevent parked cars from clogging busy streets during rush hours was announced Thursday by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. The number of tow-aways citywide could eventually double, transportation officials warned. The program aimed at problem drivers who park illegally during peak traffic hours will begin Aug. 27, Bradley said.

A grass-roots group that has been railing against Los Angeles' parking ticket policies announced Thursday that it is teaming up with Mayor Eric Garcetti to work on changes to the enforcement system. Steven Vincent, founder of the Los Angeles Parking Freedom Initiative, said Garcetti invited members of his organization to participate in an official city working group earlier this week. The panel, Vincent said, will look at an array of possible changes, such as reducing the size of certain fines, expanding parking hours in key locations, making no-parking signs less confusing and halting the practice of using ticket revenue as a tool to balance the city's budget.

Violating city parking laws is about to become more expensive in Costa Mesa. The City Council on Monday approved increased fines for parking violations. The new fines go into effect in the middle of February. The Police Department said a study of parking fines in surrounding areas revealed it was a lot less expensive to break parking laws in Costa Mesa than in Irvine, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Santa Ana or Fountain Valley.

The price of a parking ticket is going up. The Newport Beach City Council has increased the price of parking violations, making this city one of the most expensive places in the county to forget to feed meters, park in red zones or block alleys. Because of a recent change in the state law, the county courts will no longer prosecute parking violations.

The Burbank City Council increased fines for most parking violations by nearly 50% but delayed an increase for tickets on the two-hour parking limit out of concern for downtown theater and restaurant goers. On a motion by Vice Mayor Bill Wiggins on Tuesday night, the council adopted a new parking fee schedule, increasing fines from $17 to $25 for violations of yellow zones, white zones, green zones, no parking zones and preferential parking.

Parking officers in Los Angeles will no longer write up violations of most posted signs on Christmas and other holidays, it was announced Friday. No parking will be allowed at red curbs, in bus zones or where stopping and parking are banned around the clock. But most other minor violations will be ignored under a new policy of the Department of Transportation. For instance, parking beyond time limits or in neighborhoods where permits are required will not be a violation on holidays.

Hal Halter, affectionately known in the beach cities as the affable Santa Claus of Hermosa Beach, has died of a heart attack after a long illness. Halter, 69, a retired attorney, was Hermosa Beach's first administrative hearing officer for parking citations. City officials estimate that the San Pedro resident heard several thousand appeals during his four years with the city. Because of illness, Halter relinquished his duties in September.

Citations for parking on the street during street-sweeping hours or for expired parking meters have been increased by $3. The City Council this week approved increasing the fines to raise revenue to offset the cost to administer a program to hire an officer to hear disputes over parking citations and render decisions--instead of parking violators going to court. Police Chief Richard M. Tefank said the state is requiring agencies issuing parking citations to have a program in place by January.

Fines for dozens of Los Angeles parking violations will jump another $5 this summer, as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council continue shifting more of the city's budget woes onto motorists. In what has become a recurring search for summer cash at City Hall, the council voted unanimously to increase parking fines for the sixth time in seven years. The increases will apply to the 2.5 million city parking tickets issued annually and are expected to generate an extra $8.4 million in the next year for the city's general fund budget, which pays for basic services such as police and firefighters.

"You're not going to believe what happened last night," Jeff Galfer said as he opened the door to his Atwater Village apartment. "I got another ticket. " Galfer and I had been talking for weeks about his Kafkaesque battles with the Los Angeles Parking Violations Bureau. Galfer would contest what he thought was an unfair parking citation, and the bureau would tell him his fine was on hold while the appeal was under review. The next thing he knew, a letter would arrive saying he owed not only the original fine, but late fees and penalties.

Despite aggressive parking enforcement, Los Angeles has gone easy on chronic scofflaws who rack up multiple unpaid parking tickets, with the city missing out on up to $15 million in revenue, a new audit has found. The audit focused on parking violators with five or more unpaid tickets. Such violators are supposed to have their vehicles impounded or immobilized by a boot lock placed on one of the wheels. But officials found that L.A. Department of Transportation parking enforcement officers did not take action against 73.5% of the chronic offenders they came across.

Tickets for parking violations in the city of Los Angeles will cost $5 more starting next month, after a vote taken Tuesday by the City Council. Under the new fee schedule, motorists will have to pay $40 for parking in a loading zone, $45 for parking more than 18 inches from the curb, $55 for parking on street-sweeping day and $75 for parking in a red zone. Tickets automatically double when they are paid late. Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who heads the council's Transportation Committee, described the costlier parking tickets as critical to the city's effort to balance the budget.

A judge in Chile has ordered a Catholic priest to recite seven psalms daily for three months as punishment for illegal parking. Judge Manuel Perez said he issued the unusual sentence after the Rev. Jose Cornejo said he could not afford the $100 fine that would have been the regular sanction for illegal parking in the southern city of Puerto Montt. The priest said he had parked his car in front of a school where he works because he lacked the money to pay for public parking.

When authorities towed a $160,000 Maserati Cambiocorsa in London, they assumed the owner would show up to pay his many parking tickets and fees. But Bertrand Des Pallieres, a wealthy Parisian hedge fund manager, didn't. Three months later, the Evening Standard newspaper contacted him, telling him the Maserati was about to be auctioned. Des Pallieres, 39, was quoted as saying he had been traveling on business.

Citing potential fire dangers and concerns over the health risks posed by secondhand smoke, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved legislation that would prohibit smokers from lighting up in municipal parks. The move came nearly three months after a blaze charred roughly 20% of Griffith Park, threatening such landmarks as the Griffith Observatory and the Los Angeles Zoo. Authorities believe the fire was sparked by a man who had fallen asleep while smoking.

They've tried reining in the paparazzi before -- with little success. There was the time Los Angeles County prosecutors vowed to use criminal conspiracy charges against photographers who drove recklessly while chasing celebrities around. And remember when the California Legislature passed a law making it easier for celebrities to sue aggressive paparazzi? But now, authorities are bringing in the big guns: L.A.'s much-feared parking enforcement division.